Kristoff scoops up fourth victory of 2016 in Oman

Alexander Kristoff earned his fourth win of the year in the Tour of Oman's stage 3. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

SEEB, Oman (AFP) — Katusha’s Alexander Kristoff won the third stage of the Tour of Oman in a sprint finish on Thursday, comfortably beating Moreno Hofland of LottoNL – Jumbo and Roy Jans of Wanty – Groupe Gobert to the line.

“I am happy with this victory. From the one side we lost one important guy before the finish, from the other hand, we showed we could be very flexible in the final mix, and this is really great,” Kristoff said. “It was a bit raining today, but I was OK with this weather. The only thing I was scared about was the slippery road in the final, but fortunately the road was dry.”

Stage 2, top 10

1. Alexander KRISTOFF, TEAM KATUSHA, in 4:03:22

2. Moreno HOFLAND, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00

3. Roy JANS, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :00

4. Mike TEUNISSEN, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00

5. Jean-Pierre DRUCKER, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00

6. Zico WAEYTENS, TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN, at :00

7. Berden DE VRIES, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at :00

8. Robin STENUIT, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :00

9. Daniel OSS, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00

10. Edvald BOASSON HAGEN, DIMENSION DATA, at :00

Top-10 overall

1. Edvald BOASSON HAGEN, DIMENSION DATA, in 11:52:53

2. Vincenzo NIBALI, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :04

3. Greg VAN AVERMAET, BMC RACING TEAM, at :06

4. Romain BARDET, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :06

5. Serge PAUWELS, DIMENSION DATA, at :08

6. Rui Alberto FARIA DA COSTA, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at :10

7. Jakob FUGLSANG, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :10

8. Domenico POZZOVIVO, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :10

9. Davide REBELLIN, CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE, at :10

10. Patrick KONRAD, BORA-ARGON 18, at :16

Kristoff’s season has started in a remarkably similar vein to last year, with replicate wins on stages 2, 4, and 5 at the Tour of Qatar before Thursday’s win in the 176.5-kilometer stage to Naseem Park in Oman.

His Katusha lead-out train was missing Jacopo Guarnieri in the finale, as the Italian punctured with five kilometers remaining, but Kristoff was able to adapt. Marco Haller and Michael Morkov brought the Norwegian into the final few hundred meters where he worked his magic again.

The day’s early break was a group of five riders, but Katusha and Dimension Data did their part to keep the escape in check. The field was all together with 10km left.

Dimension Data’s Edvald Boasson Hagen, who was unlucky to lose the overall title in Qatar last week to teammate Mark Cavendish, still leads the overall standings by four seconds. Astana’s Vincenzo Nibali is second and BMC Racing’s Greg Van Avermaet is third at six seconds back.

Friday’s 177km fourth stage will see the peloton tackle an uphill finish on Green Mountain, which will likely be crucial in deciding the general classification. The race ends Sunday.